ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage
Announces 2014 Season
By: ArtsEmerson - Sep 10, 2013
ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage announces the second half of its fourth theatre season, beginning in early 2014. This covers productions into June of 2014. Tickets for these productions go on sale to ArtsEmerson members on Sept. 10, 2013 and to the general public on Sept. 18, 2013. For information about membership and ticket sales, visit www.ArtsEmerson.org or call 617-824-8400.
Rob Orchard, Executive Director for the Arts stated that "Our fourth season offers world premieres, classics, return visits from friends we've hosted before, and dialogue around important historical moments as well as a number of works featuring multi-media and music. In short, a world on stage coming to us this year from Belgium, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, England, Israel, The Netherlands, Russia and across the U.S."
The 2013-14 Season
Jan. 10 –Feb. 1, 2014
A Presentation About Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915
Company One (Boston)
Written by Jackie Sibblies Drury
Directed by Summer L. Williams
A co-production with ArtsEmerson and Company One
The Jackie Liebergott Black Box at the Emerson/Paramount Center
The personal and political, humorous and harrowing collide in this exhilaratingly irreverent play from Boston’s own Company One. A rehearsal room descends from collaborative to absurd as a group of idealistic actors attempts to dramatize the little-known first genocide of the 20th century. But as the ensemble wrestles with this remote story, tensions mount, and their exploration hits much closer to home than anyone ever expected. One of The New York Times Top Ten Plays of 2012, We Are Proud to Present a Presentation… is an innovative, fast-paced and uncomfortably funny take on race, empathy and the devastating consequences of our best intentions.
Founded in 1998, Company One was recently named "Boston's Best Theatre Company" by The Improper Bostonian and "One of the most inspiring and innovative theatre companies on our national landscape” by the American Theatre Wing. Company One‘s mission is to change the face of Boston theatre by uniting the city’s diverse communities through socially provocative performance and the development of civically engaged artists. The award-winning company has been instrumental in bringing younger and more diverse audiences to see and participate in socially and politically relevant theatre.
Feb. 20 – 22, 2014
No Place to Go
Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra (New York)
Written by Ethan Lipton
Originally directed by Leigh Silverman
Composed and performed by Ethan Lipton & his Orchestra
Originally produced by The Public Theater/Joe’s Pub, New York, NY
Presented in Association with ArKtype
The Jackie Liebergott Black Box at the Emerson/Paramount Center
The company where he’s worked for the past ten years is moving to another planet, and playwright Ethan Lipton doesn’t want to go. Part love letter to his co-workers, part query to the universe, part protest to his company and country, No Place to Go delivers a hilarious, irreverent and personal musical ode to the unemployed. Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra perform this OBIE Award-winning theatrical song cycle steeped in musical traditions including jazz, blues, folk, country and lounge.
Ethan Lipton is an OBIE Award-winning playwright and performer who has been a Kesselring nominee, an O’Neill Conference finalist, and a resident playwright at New York Stage & Film. He is the 2012/13 Playwright’s Realm’s Page One resident playwright, an alum of The Public Theatre’s Emerging Writers Lab and has received grants from NYFA, NYSCA and the NEA, as well as numerous commissions.
Feb. 25 – March 2, 2014
Man in a Case
Adapted from Two Stories by Anton Chekhov
Adapted and Directed by Annie-B Parson & Paul Lazar/Big Dance Theater
Choreographed by Annie-B Parson
Featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov, Tymberly Canale, Chris Giarmo, Paul Lazar, and Aaron Mattocks
Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre
Drawing from material as varied as surveillance footage, folk dance, instructional hunting videos and interviews with the cast, Man in a Case creates a bridge between our time and that of two brilliant 19th-century anti-love stories by Anton Chekhov: The Man in a Case and About Love. Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar, the team behind the internationally acclaimed Big Dance Theater, bring their signature style—fusing theatre, dance, music and video—to this visionary adaptation featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Paul Lazar.
Baryshnikov Productions is designed to bring the distinctive voices of innovative directors, choreographers and artists to the world’s most respected stages. Founded in 1991, Big Dance Theater is known for its inspired use of dance, music, text and visual design to expand and refract literary texts.
March 6 – 15, 2014
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Bristol Old Vic (Bristol, United Kingdom)
In association with Handspring Puppet Company (Cape Town, South Africa)
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Tom Morris
Co-commissioned by Spoleto Festival USA
Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre
For the first time since their collaboration on the internationally acclaimed War Horse, Tom Morris and Handspring reunite for Shakespeare’s irresistible A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this Midsummer, it’s not just the lovers, foes and fairies who are spellbound. Trees, objects and tools all pulse and tingle with the possibility of existence in a future primitive world where, thanks to the magic of Handspring Puppet Company alongside a brilliant company of actors, all objects are granted the right to life.
Bristol Old Vic is the longest continuously-running theatre in the UK whose mission is to pioneer 21st century theatre in partnership with the people of their energetic city, inspired by the history and magical design of the most beautiful playhouse in the country. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Handspring Puppet Company was founded in 1981 and has grown under the leadership of Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones. The company’s work has been presented in more than 30 countries around the world.
April 1 – 6, 2014
Not by Bread Alone
Nalaga’at Theater Deaf-Blind Acting Ensemble (Israel)
Conceived and Directed by Adina Tal
Created and Performed by Nalaga’at Theater Deaf-Blind Acting Ensemble
Emerson/Paramount Center Mainstage
Performed in Hebrew with English surtitles
Eleven deaf-blind actors from Israel’s ground-breaking Nalaga’at Theater Ensemble take audiences on a tour through their inner worlds of darkness and silence. As the cast bakes bread in real time on a fully-lit stage, they tell stories through sign, movement, and spoken word that express their own magical dreams and desires. While the bread is rising in the oven, the audience gains unique access to a magical world where the senses are challenged like never before. This insightful, sensitive, once-in-a-lifetime theatrical experience comes to ArtsEmerson from rave reviews and sold-out runs in London, New York and the company’s home city of Tel Aviv.
The Tel Aviv-based Nalaga’at Deaf-Blind Acting Ensemble is the only troupe of its kind in the world. Founded by Artistic Director Adina Tal, Nalaga’at aims to integrate deaf-blind people into the community while allowing them an opportunity to express themselves through a performance. The company’s first completed success Light is Heard in Zig-Zag is followed up by the groundbreaking must-see hit, Not by Bread Alone.
April 9 –13, 2014
Lebensraum (Habitat)
Jakop Ahlbom (The Netherlands)
Conceived and Directed by Jakop Ahlbom
Original Music by Alamo Race Track
Emerson/Paramount Center Mainstage
Two men, one tiny room. That’s just about all this remarkable live-action silent movie needs to create a joyful, surprising and virtuosic evening of theatre. That, and the doll they’ve conscripted for cleaning duties. But this doll has a mind of her own, and soon a merry mayhem descends. With a knowing nod to Buster Keaton, creator Jakop Ahlbom along with a supremely gifted cast and the band Alamo Race Track have fashioned a classic that is as fresh as the paint on their faces.
Jakop Ahlbom combines theatre, mime, dance, music and the world of illusion. His creations have been performed and selected for national prizes at the Dutch Theatre Festival as well as the international Salzburger Festspiele, among others. In 2013, he was invited to direct a new production of Les Contes d’Hoffman for the Deutche Oper in Berlin.
April 17 – 27, 2014
The Wholehearted
Stein | Holum Projects (New York)
Written & Directed by Deborah Stein
Performed & Directed by Suli Holum
The Jackie Liebergott Black Box at the Emerson/Paramount Center
Utilizing the forces of text, song and physicality, The Wholehearted dives into a narrative fraught with the violence of love, the sexuality of sports and the truth behind the stories we tell ourselves. Collaborative partners and Drama Desk nominees Deborah Stein and Suli Holum tackle the story of a fictive female boxer based on the biographies of iconic women in athletic history. Unlike any solo theatrical experience, Stein and Holum deliver a unique multimedia feast, questioning the line between personal fantasy and factual reality.
Stein | Holum Projects is a collaboration between performer/director Suli Holum and writer/director Deborah Stein. They build tightly scripted theatrical events through an intensive collaboration between theatremakers who defy traditional definitions. Stein has previously worked extensively with the Pig Iron Theatre Company in addition to being an accomplished playwright and director. Holum is a founder and former Co-Artistic Director at Pig Iron as well as lauded actor and playwright.
May 6 – 18, 2014
Sontag: Reborn
The Builders Association (New York)
Based on the books Reborn and As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh by Susan Sontag, edited by David Rieff
Directed by Marianne Weems
Adapted and Performed by Moe Angelos
Emerson/Paramount Center Mainstage
Iconic intellectual Susan Sontag is brought vividly to life in Sontag: Reborn, adapted from her early journals by performer Moe Angelos. Directed by Marianne Weems, this intimate and startling portrait traces Sontag’s private life from the age of 14 to her emergence as a world-renowned author and activist. The young Sontag wrestles with her emerging sexuality and precocious intelligence, fraught with doubt and insecurity yet driven by her willfulness, ambition and voracious curiosity. The refuge of her diary became integral to her development as a writer. Sontag says herself, “In the journal I do not just express myself more openly than I could in person. I create myself.” The Builders Association brings its signature synthesis of video and sound back to the ArtsEmerson stage following House / Divided to poetically tell the personal story of one of America’s most controversial and memorable cultural critics.
Founded in 1994, The Builders Association is a New York-based, OBIE award-winning performance and media company that creates original productions based on stories drawn from contemporary life. The company uses the richness of new and old tools to extend the boundaries of theatre. Based on innovative collaborations, they blend stage performance, text, video, sound and architecture to tell stories about human experience in the 21st century.
June 6 & 7, 2014
Eugene Onegin
Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia (Moscow)
By Alexander Pushkin
Directed by Rimas Tuminas
Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre
In Russian with English subtitles.
In a rare U.S. appearance, the legendary Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia presents a modern interpretation of Alexander Pushkin's most sincere and timeless work. With its enduring themes of condemnation, love, disillusionment, cynicism, compassion and forgiveness, Eugene Onegin is as relevant today as it's been for almost two centuries. World-renowned director Rimas Tuminas' theatrical adaptation of the work, recently recognized with Russia’s most prestigious theatrical award, the Crystal Turandot, remains faithful to Pushkin’s original text, providing an insight into the essence of the Russian soul. Showcasing 45 actors on stage and impressive set designs, featuring music by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, along with Russian and French folk songs, Eugene Onegin is a daring and stylish display of real masterpiece theatre.
U.S. tour is supported by the Ministry for Culture of the Russian Federation.
Founded by a legendary Russian theatrical director, Evgeny Vakhtangov, in 1921 and now led by one of the hottest European directors, Rimas Tuminas, legendary Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia is now a Moscow landmark, located in the very heart of the city, and rated as among the best theaters in Russia by both critics and audience. Vakhtangov’s troupe, that includes numerous Russian star actors, always presents the most original and interesting repertoire, with most of its productions being sold-out months in advance.
On sale now at ArtsEmerson to the general public:
Sept. 17—29, 2013, columbinus – American Theater Company, Chicago, Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre, Paramount Center
Oct. 8 —20, 2013, BARITONE UNBOUND: CELEBRATING THE UNCOMMON VOICE OF THE COMMON MAN– Marc Kudisch & Friends, New York City, Emerson / Paramount Center Mainstage
Oct. 10 —12, 2013, KISS & CRY– Charleroi Danses, Belgium, Emerson / Cutler Majestic Theatre
Oct. 31—Nov. 10, 2013, WAITING FOR GODOT– Gare St. Lazare Players Ireland, Ireland, Emerson / Paramount Center Mainstage
Nov. 7—9, 2013, STEP AFRIKA! – Step Afrika!, Washington D.C., Emerson / Cutler Majestic Theatre
Nov. 13—17, 2013, SLEEPING BEAUTY– Colla Marionette, Italy, Emerson / Paramount Center Mainstage
Nov. 30—Dec. 8, 2013, MISS JULIE– Farber Foundry, South Africa, Emerson / Paramount Center Mainstage
Jan. 30—Feb. 2, 2014, HOUSE / DIVIDED –The Builders Association, New York City, Emerson / Cutler Majestic Theatre